


There is a Field For Us

by Gyogyo



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Leadership, Made For Each Other, Size Difference, Space elves getting horns for each other, Unresolved Sexual Tension, rift sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-05
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2019-06-05 12:58:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15171266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gyogyo/pseuds/Gyogyo
Summary: Passage through the Rift Gate will expose the chosen ones to a fount of living energy far beyond their understanding. The field feeds Allura’s spirit but she will find how easy it is to delve too deep, reveal too much.





	There is a Field For Us

**Author's Note:**

> Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing  
> and rightdoing there is a field.  
> I’ll meet you there.  
> When the soul lies down in that grass  
> the world is too full to talk about.
> 
> -Rumi

“Lotor, you’re doing it again.”

Allura noticed this new habit develop before he had.

The first time was in the hanger bay as he reviewed progress updates for the Sincline ship. As he was lost in automatic functions, Lotor seemed totally unaware of how his hand would drift up to his face and press a couple of pointed nails lightly into his cheek.

He turned to her, distracted. “Ah, that I am.”

“I can assure you that your marks are still there even if you can’t see them. They always were and always will be. Alteans are born with them.” Allura reached for his hand and slowly guided it away from his face. “And the Sages do not judge character lightly.”

“I tell you this in confidence, Allura, as I trust you won’t lose heart…” Lotor looked up at the Sincline, freshly glowing with her imbued living alchemy and she could tell his mood was heavy. “I do not fear the Rift but it has loomed large over my entire life. I will— Soon we will face it head on.”

Allura ran her thumb over his knuckles. “It’s alright to be a little nervous. I’d like to think I’m not the only one.”

 

* * *

 

 It was…odd and utterly surprising. By unspoken necessity, they’d become each other’s closest confidants.

Allura had told him her deepest hopes and darkest fears as if they were just another parcel of knowledge to be catalogued, to fill the gap in his data logs. In the dim glow of comet ore and weary with exertion, she told him things she never dared to voice to anyone.

Lotor trusted her to respect his secrets.

His silent, careful nursing of several broken ribs was imperceptible to all but the most observant empath.  Luckily, she was just such an empath. _It’ll heal on it’s own_ , he’d said and waved off her concern. Instead he impressed on her how absolutely crucial it was to conceal any weakness, especially from his military commanders and especially this early into his reign as Emperor. Tending to injury was the most intensely private matter by any Galra standard. This was so inherent to their cultural understanding that even Dayak had no need to teach it.

He pulled Allura aside and out of view to consult on matters of State that she came to realize weren’t really matters of State.

“I know you have the Coalition in your heart. I want to learn what, for you, is instinct.”

She knew this was about the missing piece of him. The void inside that disturbed him. “I can lead them Allura. Under my rule, the Galra will survive this.” His sighed and continued in a soft voice. “I need your guidance to care for them. Do you understand? I need to care for them. As you would.”

She was overwhelmed by the sincerity of his request and could only manage a simple response. “Of course. Of course I’ll advise you.”

She squeezed his fingers. “Lotor, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing Princess. Thank you, truly.  You honor me and my people.”

 

* * *

 

All the weight of the universe seemed to melt away as they worked on the Sincline.

As they talked, she forgot about his mantle of power. Lotor was not the emperor, carrying the weight of a fractured empire locked in civil war. Not the victorious son, lighting his own star on the night of the Kral Zera. Not even her fellow worthy child of Oriande.

He was a partner in research and exploration bound by virtue of their work. She took comfort in the sound of his metallic footsteps echoing around her as she focused on the task of imbuing comet ore.

Lotor bid her a good nights rest and unfurled his grip to let her hand flow out of his.

On the way back to her room Allura couldn’t put the parting slope of his hand out of her mind even as she tried to sleep. She turned in bed and stared at her empty hand resting in front of her on the pillow. The mice scurried around, chasing each other in and out of the shelter her half curled fingers made for them.

 

* * *

 

When the day of the maiden voyage arrived Lotor greeted her with a modified Galra salute. He’d forgone the customary solid fist in favor of a flat hand resting elegantly over his chest. She knew from recent experience that it was a gesture only afforded to those of higher rank but he hadn’t bothered to qualify his deference to the Galra guards and attendants. The meaning was implicit.

“I hadn't realized you knew so much of the Altean royal etiquette.”

“I’ve studied the decorum codes.” He supplied. It was the only time he’d ever looked sheepish about his research. He frowned when she pointed out that his knowledge of Altean court decorum was charming albeit sourced from a bygone era. “Lotor, you remind me of a dignitary pulled straight from our classics on Altea. If, uh, if that dignitary’s entire military vocabulary was in modern Galra.”

He laughed. “Thank you. I’ll have you know, adapting what I learned of Altean diplomacy as well of other cultures has served me well for many millennia before working with the Coalition.”

As the elevating platform took them up to the hull, Allura looked on as Lotor coiled and twisted his hair to hold it against the base of his skull. He slid his helmet on.

 

* * *

 

Blinding white light and painful waves of infrasound oppressed them during their entry into the Rift.

It took a moment for Allura to be able to see or hear again. She focused on her breathing and listened to the hum of living, thrumming energy flowing through her.

Everything softened after the tension of the Gate. The large viewing canopy they shared in the Sincline was engulfed by the brightest light imaginable but now it didn’t hurt to look at. Rather, it felt so incredibly good on her eyes.

_This must be what reincarnation feels like._

Lotor looked around, as mesmerized as she was. “Not so bad.”

There was a shift as soon as communication with Castle-Ship was severed by the entry. Allura realized all at once that for the first time, they had real privacy. More than that, they were the most alone that any two people in the universe could scientifically hope to be. This was a rift that existed between realities, their own personal reality as it were. Their dream.

Allura felt a strange sort of pleasant weight drop into her stomach.

There were so many things she still wanted to say.

Lotor scrolled through the hologram panel for its library of data visualization. His fingers flew over the central panel to make every analysis of the unprecedented readings picked up by the ship’s collection cells. Allura was brought out of focus. Nothing that showed up on their consoles compared to what she felt.

She couldn’t bare to study the energy readings, not when the feeling of quintessence flooding every atom of her being told of so much more that any artificial sensory equipment could describe.

“Shut down your console for just a moment. Come feel this with me.”

“You know I don’t share the same gift as you.”

“That doesn’t matter. I know you can feel this too. Its…I have no words. It’s truly incredible.”

He programed the autopilot commands and got up from his seat.

 

* * *

 

Allura’s hand dragged over the pane of the canopy, breathing deeply in the presence of pure quintessence orbs drifting just beyond her reach. They stood in the very narrow perimeter flight deck by her copilot station.

She finally worked up the courage to speak on things it seemed neither one of them would say.

“Lotor, I’ve been thinking. I know you may have designs on me. I value all that we’ve accomplished together. After all this is over I know we’re bound to a shared legacy but please understand that I intend to keep our alliance strictly within the political sphere. These are war times and if anything that grows out of our—

"Allura—“ He cut her off. He straightened up from his position of resting a forearm on the head of the copilot chair. His voice was soft but something about it made her catch a breath in her throat. “I’ve never had any designs on you.”

“When I first began my research into Altea I quickly learned of a rumor that had a touch of prophecy about it. It was more of wishful thought held by some accounts across the galaxy. I knew I’d never be able to corroborate my findings, the knowledge that the Altean princess was never accounted for after the destruction of her planet. That whisper of hope that Alfor hid her somewhere safe before he met his end. I confess, I could not totally disregard the possibility. It gave me great comfort in my exile.”

“You were sent away from your station. The planet you loved had just been destroyed behind your back.”

“Yes.”

“Of course you needed something to hold onto, Lotor. Anyone would.”

“ _Anyone_ would. I could not allow such a paltry sentiment to unnerve me.”

Allura’s thoughts turned to her last vision of Alfor’s Castle AI. The sparkling chamber of all her most cherished memories with her father smashed into a thousand pieces.

“…I can understand that.”

“I know you can. To yearn for another reality is dangerous. It’s always been dangerous. It can steer us from our course.  I know the concept of trans-reality from every angle so I’ve known this lesson for a very long time.”

“Moreover, who would we be? The burdens and triumphs that make up this present reality cannot be denied.”

“If I denied them, who would I be?”

“I had to put the lost princess out of my mind to redouble my efforts against Zarkon.”  

“You put much out of your mind.” Allura meant to form her words as a delicate question but the energy flowing through her was starting to make it second nature to intuit the truth.

“I do.”

“I can see it, you know. Everything.”

“Had to let it go during my fire purification and re-education. The gladiator circuits to reenter Galra society demanded a certain level of…focus.”

Lotor turned to face her. “I haven’t thought about that rumor in a long time, not even after meeting you. I never dreamed of anything like you, never imagined that 'princess' would be the least of your titles. Leader of the Coalition, favored by the White Lion.”

“I’m glad we met.”

“As am I, Allura." 

"In this war, you're the only thing I don't have designs on.” He pulled her in by the elbows, their arms connected. “So I ask only what I trust you want as well.”

Allura's mind was moving slow. Her thoughts spooled out and left her empty. “What I want?”

When she looked up at his face she found a deep, searching look. 

Allura let her hand trace up his arm. She knew her touch gave Lotor no sensation through the hard shell of his flight suit but looking down on the sight of her gloved hands gliding over the keel plate that encased the shape of him made her heart bold.

“I already have everything I want.”

Her hands went to him.

The compression of the vacuum suit formed a groove outlining his impressively broad collarbones. Her hands found a path over the shoulder girdle up to wide collar and finally to arrive at the sides of his helmet. She was loyal to that same contour traveling him up and down. She appreciated the ease of movement her hands found with an inspection that would’ve been impossible if his dense mane of hair was let loose.

She could feel Lotor watching and her periphery caught the movement of his eyes flicking from her roaming hands to her face. but knew she wasn’t ready to hold the steadiness of his eyes. The visual may be even more potent for him. _Indeed._ Lotor must have seen something in her expression he liked because his lip curled up a fang.

Lotor took his turn and grazed his hand over her breast plate. He touched as if she could feel him, as if her armor was truly skin instead. His hand trailed off with ghostly reverence.

“Keep going.”

Lotor made a low hum and reached out for her. He curled a finger under the rim of her helmet, activating a sensor to retract the visor. Slowly, he did the same on himself.

He took one step forward and they were chest to chest. She felt his hand press the back of her helmet as he tipped her chin up. He pulled her forward and bent to resolve their height difference. Tilted his head until the frames of their face plates pressed together with a satisfying dull clack and the angle was just right for him to finally reach her mouth with his kiss.

The rigid form of their helmets held them in place. Caged them in with that hunger and all of its intensity.

Her eyes closed against incandescent white heat, a rush as intense as sticking her head outside into the field. Energy burst in her chest, in the deepest pit of her stomach.

Lotor pulled away to finally take off his helmet. She mirrored the action. Both helmets knocked loudly against the deck when let go.

So taken by the reunion of their kiss, so lost in the heat and motion of his mouth, it wasn’t until Allura felt his long fingers take root in her hair, firm, with the slight prickle of claws, that a realization dawned on her…

_He wants me._

He exhaled through his nose and his breath fanned out against her cheek. She felt his soft groan reverberate through her own chest like he was suddenly living under her skin.

_He wants me._

She grabbed on to his arms with a wild surge of excitement at the realization to follow. She could have him. Here.

“This isn’t entirely proper.” she said breathlessly, as a matter of course. It sounded more blasé than intended.

“Princess, as I recall, you were the one who once said there is no court for us to impress.” he murmured.

Allura mentally rehearsed a maneuver to arrange their positions in a way that she hoped he’d find graceful and encouraging. On the way back to her chair, she lost footing and tripped backward to land in the tight space between the flight seats, barely large enough for her to stretch out her knees. Despite the canopy of their ship having more space than a single fighter craft, it was cramped quarters. She made note of the handholds, partition between seats, deactivated consoles. The left and right sliding throttle grips were locked.

Exhilaration consumed her when she realized Lotor was already moving on her before she could adjust. His hands were well above her shoulders, holding onto the throttle arm tracks. He curled over her like a crouching runner. His knees on the ground framed her hips as he braced his feet against metal backing of his pilot chair. Every adjustment he made above her to get comfortable was backlit by a blanket of living energy, the glowing white quintessence all around them. Gazing straight into the coal gray expanse of his abdomen, Allura spread her legs to make more room for him.

He took that space.

Surged against her and eclipsed all but the outermost light.

She pushed against his chest to feel him push back. She writhed in his hold to feel him squeeze tighter. But when Allura hooked an arm around his neck, Lotor let his strength collapse and went down with her.

As they ebbed and flowed together, nothing continued to exist outside the boundary of the canopy bands. Coalition, Empire, Voltron, the memory of Altea. It all faded like the field of white beyond.

His large hand slid under her, anchored low on her back and she felt it spanning the full width of her body. She tilted her hips as he drew her up, let her thighs part to allow him to press her against him as close as possible.

Unlike her dull nails, he had equipment that could be felt through the suit. Really felt.

The points of his clawed hand grazed over the base of her spine. Pleasure raced through her nerves, made her legs go weak, too weak to clamp around his waist. Lotor steeled his entire body, held Allura’s hips flush against him as the back of her head was pressed firmly into the cushion of the flight seat, held down by the weight of his kiss. The glide of his tongue made his desires explicit.

Lotor was really nothing like the stately Altean suitors Allura had danced with before her long Sleep. He may have been born a prince but he was never coddled by a royal court. There was no telling the steps of his dance.

This was a tryst with a gladiator. He had the fire of combat in his eyes. He had the fervor of survival in his bones.

_I may have bitten off more than I can chew with this man._

_The Emperor. Who would’ve thought?_

Her heart drummed against her chest fearfully, joyously and very much alive. She tilted her head back to gasp for air and caught up on the oxygen she so desperately ached for as quickly as her lungs would allow. The only sound in the canopy was their gasping and the distant bass white noise deep inside of the Sincline. Against his shoulder, she inhaled warm ozone and caught the scent of sweat in his hair, clinging to the nape of his neck.

Lungs satiated, she realized after a time how thoroughly she was seized by his one arm. The tiptoes of her arched feet were the only part of her that had any contact with the ground. She couldn’t budge an inch in this protective cradle. Lotor wasn’t moving either, not a muscle. He merely breathed raggedly. It was like being in the arms of a statue. A cosmic artist’s idea of lover’s embrace frozen in time.

A very long time.

“Lotor?”

He didn’t respond except to pull her even closer.

She tried to reach for his face. “Are you alright?”

His body softened a bit. It seemed as though he was only content to hold her.

Just then her suit’s bio-monitor activated the temperature equalization cycle through its base layer. The rush of coolant coursed over her whole body, chilling the sweat on her hot skin in an instant. Allura shivered hard, moaned before she could help it.

_Stars, he really burned me up._

Perhaps it had been too much, too fast. Perhaps he was having second thoughts.

Allura didn’t know for sure but her heart was tender and she rather liked being held. It must have helped him. She ran a hand up his face. Smoothed a wild forelock back to clear the smooth line of his widows peak. As her hand ran back down, she stopped to stroke around his temple.

_If only I could feel what he's feeling._

Suddenly she did.

Allura's eyes exploded with light. She meant to wade into the stream of his life force, expected to feel the steady bottom only to jolt back at the feeling of being dragged into the depths of an endless ocean.

Lotor pushed away from her. In the tight quarters his shoulders hit the back of his pilot seat and he sat up on his haunches, panting.

Allura looked at her hand and back at him. “W-what do you have inside you?”

“I..I don't know? Allura what was that? What did you do?”

“I’ve tapped into the quintessence of a living planet before and it was….similar to what I felt with you.”

Allura heaved herself up by the throttle tracks of the chair to sit properly on the seat cushion.

Lotor reached up as if to touch his cheekbone but halted himself when he thought better of it. “Could you see into my mind?”

“No, not exactly. It’s rather hard to explain. I felt your energy.”

“I must have been frightening. Judging by the look on your face.”

"No! No, nothing like that. I’m sorry, I was just startled. It’s magnificent actually. The field is amplifying my abilities. I can tap into...so much. Perhaps we should return to Oriande to beseech the Sages to reveal the unseen depths of her chosen."

He guided her hand to his face and she felt the tightness in his jaw release. “I’m sorry, we should have our wits about us before we depart the Rift.”

She laid her hand over his shoulder. “I don’t fear the unknown. Not anymore.”

Lotor was silent but he covered her hand with his own.

  

* * *

 

“I have quarters back on the command ship. We could spend some time there together…if you like.”

Allura was grateful she could no longer see his face. She needed a moment to contemplate that Lotor had just invited her to his room to finish getting her off.

At least now she could be well and truly scandalized.

She watched as he was forced to key and rekey commands into the holo-screen with a shaky hand. He voice was still a little thick.

"Something for later, I’d say. But from the moment I ended my father’s reign I’ve become unguarded. Even as Haggar’s intelligence grows. Her next move will be soon. I can't do this without you."

His voice lowered. “I don’t want to do this without you.”

"Don’t be foolish, Lotor. You can’t really mean that. You’ve been true to your path for so long."

"I know."

 


End file.
